All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1335
-
News
RAF targets its future needs
Andrew Chuter/LONDON THE ROYAL AIR FORCE has outlined a vision of the future where bombs do not go bang, and pilots fly combat aircraft without ever leaving the ground. UK defence officials say that, in some areas, work is starting to get under way which ...
-
News
Lockheed Martin steps up C-130J testing
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA LOCKHEED MARTIN is to add aircraft and increase flying in a bid to recover delays in flight-testing the C-130J Hercules 2. The second C-130J had its first flight on 4 June - only the programme's second since the delayed maiden flight of the first aircraft ...
-
News
MDC JSF design draws on
THE LIFT ENGINE under development for the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) contender is to combine technology from General Electric, Allison and Rolls-Royce. The GEA-FXL is a 71kN (16,000lb)-thrust-class turbofan less than 1.5m high and 1.2m diameter, mounted behind the cockpit in the short-take-off/vertical-landing (STOVL) variant ...
-
News
USN PC-9 plan
The US Navy plans to buy or lease two Pilatus PC-9 turboprop trainers, "or equivalent aircraft", to use as chase aircraft for the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor flight-test programme. The aircraft will be required for five years beginning in April 1997. The Navy is calling for a level-flight speed ...
-
News
USAF 'broke orders' on CT-43 disaster flight
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE US AIR FORCE says that the 3 April Boeing CT-43A flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia, which crashed killing US Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown and 34 others, took place in breach of orders. The airport's, approach procedure had not been approved by ...
-
News
Reflectone is awarded contract for RAAF C-130J training device
REFLECTONE HAS been awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to produce a C-130J Hercules 2 systems-familiarisation trainer for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The device is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 1997 and will be used for both pilot and maintenance-technician training. The award ...
-
News
Saab flies upgraded Viggen fighter
Andrzej Jeziorski/LINKOPING SAAB MILITARY AIRCRAFT has flown the first prototype of an upgraded JA37 Viggen fighter, capable of carrying the Hughes AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM), thereby completing the development phase of its mid-life update. The aircraft's maiden flight took place on 4 June, ...
-
News
Dornier redesigns Metro as 228 faces the axe
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH FAIRCHILD AIRCRAFT, which took over 80% of turboprop manufacturer Dornier Luftfahrt on 5 June, looks set to kill the Dornier 228 programme. Dornier is to help design a new version of the Fairchild Metro. The unpressurised 19-seat 228 "probably" has no future, says ...
-
News
Saab performs Gripen high-alpha trials
Saab Military Aircraft is performing high angle-of-attack flights as part of the last phase of testing of the JAS39 Gripen. The trials are designed to test the aircraft's manoeuvre load limiter, which allows the pilot to use full control inputs without exceeding safety limits. Saab's second test aircraft, repainted in ...
-
News
CAE signs for Pakistan maintenance
CANADA'S CAE AVIATION has signed a joint-venture agreement with the Pakistan air force's Shaheen Foundation to establish an aircraft-maintenance centre in Islamabad. The centre is scheduled to be opened in November, initially offering routine maintenance of Lockheed Martin C-130 transports. The initial investment is $3-4 million and annual ...
-
News
Smiths set for RAF Chinook HUMS contract
David Learmount/LONDON HEALTH AND USAGE monitoring systems (HUMS) are to be fitted to all Royal Air Force Boeing Chinook helicopters during the next three years, and "progressively" to the entire UK military helicopter fleet, according to the winning equipment supplier, Smiths Industries Aerospace. The UK contract ...
-
News
UK industry to launch research effort
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON AFTER YEARS of failing to win new Government funding for civil research-and-technology programmes, the UK's aerospace companies have taken matters into their own hands and launched a programme of industry-funded technology-demonstrator pilots. They hope that the UK Government will now help build the project ...
-
News
Speckled Trout on the menu for Boeing
BOEING HAS completed flight-testing of a full-scale prototype of its phased-array communication-antenna system, aimed at demonstrating the technology's suitability for use in commercial and military aircraft. The Satellite Telemetry Airborne Receiving System (STARS) will be installed on the US Air Force chief of staff's Boeing C-135, known as ...
-
News
Pentagon studies UAV shake-up schedule
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC SENIOR officials in the US Department of Defense are expected to decide soon how best to revamp management of its unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) programmes. Although maintaining the status quo is one option, Paul Kaminski, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, is expected to make changes in ...
-
News
Small is beautiful
Swiss military-trainer specialist Pilatus is lookingto further penetrate the civil market. Julian Moxon/PARIS Oscar Schwenk, president of Switzerland's Pilatus Aircraft, renowned for developing a range of successful turboprop trainers, says: "We're small, but small is beautiful." Military trainers have always been Pilatus' speciality, but, with ever-tighter ...
-
News
USAF places huge C-17 contracts
The US Air Force has signed for $16.2 billion in multi-year contracts for 80 McDonnell Douglas (MDC) C-17 Globemaster III military-transport aircraft, powered by Pratt & Whitney F117 turbofan engines. The C-17s and 350 F117s will be delivered over six or seven years. The USAF had previously committed ...
-
News
US Navy plans commercial vertrep contract awards
THE US NAVY'S Military Sealift Command (MSC) is planning to award a series of contracts involving use of commercially operated helicopters for vertical replenishment (VERTREP) of its warships. The contract awards are designed to meet a projected shortfall of US Navy Boeing Helicopters CH-46 helicopters, which are now ...
-
News
IAI plans maintenance operation in Turkey
ISRAEL AIRCRAFT Industries' MATA helicopter centre is discussing the establishment of a helicopter-maintenance operation in Turkey. The talks are understood to involve potential Turkish partners. Under the proposal, the Turkish army's US-built combat and transport helicopters would be maintained at the centre. "Dynamic" systems would be flown to ...
-
News
IAR agrees with Eurocopter to build Ecureuil
IAR has signed an agreement with Eurocopter International for licensed production of the French Ecureuil light helicopter in Romania.The deal, due to come into force following approval from the respective Governments, covers airframe manufacture and final assembly of 80 single-engined AS350BA Ecureuils and twin-engined AS355N Ecureuil 2s. IAR ...
-
News
Norway asks to join JSF
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NORWAY IS SEEKING to join the US/UK Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme.The Scandinavian country regards the JSF as a possible replacement for its Lockheed F-16 MLUs (mid-life updates), which will be retired by about 2012. The Norwegian air force says that it wants ...